


The Brightest Corners

by orphan_account



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 18:18:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2821655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Aoba finds an old legend in the castle library, it sends him, his brothers Koujaku, Noiz and his adopted brother Mizuki on a journey to the edges of the land.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my first story so i'm sorry if it needs some work. Any and all suggestions are encouraged and graciously accepted :) Thankyou.

The young boy walked down the long corridor, the slaps of his bare feet against the cold stone floors echoing against the great stone walls; walking with the iron sureness of a train on its tracks. he wore dark, tight jeans that were gripped to his waist by a light green belt and stopped short just before his ankles. He had a mauve jacket zipped almost to the top, under which could be seen a black vest. Around each wrist he wore a single brown metal bracelet, both rather worn for wear. Around his neck he wore two necklaces; one slightly longer than the other. The longer held a crescent moon and the other, a diamond shape. Both pendants were of the green of his belt, hanging on small silver chains. His hair was a soft blue colour and just went where it wished, floating outwards in all directions as hair does when you’ve only just woken up.

He turned the corner and entered the first door on the left; a large double door made of mahogany, infused with mistletoe which gave off a faint whiff. It was encircled by carvings of vines and leafs on the door frame which was of a slightly darker shade. As he walked in, he searched in his satchel for the small green box of matches and pulled one out of its case. He struck its’ red head against the side of the box and lit the tall candles which stood either side of his. He took the small candle from the shelf next to the one to his right and used it to light the others in the room, all of which stood a metre or so away from the wall, forming a circle of light around the edge of the room. Occasionally he would stop after lighting a candle to walk to the wall and open the long red-velvet curtains that hid a tall 40-50 ft glass window. He didn’t expect this action to help his light the room of course as it was only 6 in the morning but nonetheless, it would save him from having to do it later when it does start to get bright. He continued this ritual until he returned to the door from which he started and turned to face the room.

It was a great orbicular hall with beautiful carvings on the ceiling and a worn-down navy blue carpet on the floor. In the middle of the room a mammoth of a table sat on a beautiful rug laced with bright reds and blues and greens. Its walls were bookcases which extended to the ceiling and all around the hall, only stopping for the windows that only reached halfway to the ceiling. Every inch of the shelves were filled with books, apart from the occasional gaps where a book had evidently been borrowed, or misplaced. On the table in the centre of the room, there lie a couple of piles of books from recent visitors. 

The boy headed straight for one of the chairs on the other side of the table, so that he could see anyone who enters the room, and laid his satchel on the table next to the book that was facing the chair. He sat down and looked at the book. It was a burgundy-coloured hard-back book and on its spine it read the words ‘The Myths and Legends of Haedonfowse by Anson Arsenault’ in shiny gold lettering. It used to belong to a towering stack of books, similar to the others on the table, but now the other books had gone and it had been left alone. The girl looked at it and sighed. The only reason he was going to read it was because he had read all the fictitious books in the room (as he had come here near enough every day since he had the ability to read) and this was the closest thing to fiction that he could find in the ‘non-fiction’ half of the room. He opened it and started reading the introduction. 

Just as he reached the third chapter, the bell on the small stretch of wall at the front of the room labelled ‘breakfast’ rang, and as he didn’t want to be eating the scraps his siblings would leave for his, he grabbed the book and his satchel and ran to the door. As he was stuffing his book into the satchel something slipped out between the pages and floated to the ground. he stopped and picked it up. It was a small brown envelope. He admired it for a few seconds, trying to suppress his curiosity to open it. However he couldn’t, and reasoned that if it wasn’t meant to be read then why would it be in a book in the castle library? He put the envelope in a pocket in his jeans and carried on hastily to the dining hall. 

When he arrived there, his parents and siblings were already sat and shovelling food into their mouths. he sat in his usual seat and took a slice of toast from a mountain on a white china plate in the middle of the elongated table. As he ate his toast, he took out the envelope and opened it, being careful that nobody else saw what he was doing because he was sure that one of his eldest siblings would snatch it from him and not give it back. Inside was a scrap of paper but the only thing he could find on it were the numbers 24, 13, 2. This confused him as he had no idea what they were for nor why they were in a book of myths and legends. His father started talking so he stuffed the piece of paper back into its envelope and into his pocket just in time before he noticed he hadn’t been listening.

“-for the wonderful food.” Thank god, he was only complimenting the chef so far. “So, today we have a very busy day indeed.” Isn’t every day? the boy thought, he went back to eating his toast, but he made sure that it was evident that he was still paying attention. “Mizuki, you will accompany me on my hunting trip today to the Yradnegal forest. I want to see you at the stables at 9 sharp, with all your hunting gear on this time.” There was a soft hum of mumbled laughter around the table. “Noiz, you and your mother will prepare for your study trip abroad next week.” He looked at Noiz then down at his plate. He knew he should think about what he wants to do in the future but all he could really think about right now was the fact that he didn’t know what those numbers in the envelope meant. He thought to himself that if he thinks of it as a riddle then it should be easier, he was very good at solving all the puzzles in books. His father carried on talking. “Now then, Koujaku, I want you to go down to the training yard today and practice some more with your sword handling. You seem to be improving but you need to get your act together before you are presented as a suitor next year. It’s not that far away and King Rupert is not easily impressed.” Gosh, he thought, if Koujaku was being presented to King Rupert, he has next to no chance of winning his daughters hand in marriage. “And that leaves Aoba.” The boy looked up from the table and in his father’s direction. He was glaring at him. This was not going to be good. “It has come to my attention that you have not been making an appearance at the tutoring sessions with Mrs Grinnel lately. What is the meaning of this?” Well, he thought, Mr Calvert simply wasn’t going to read itself now was it? “Umm…” he said quietly to himself.  
“Speak up child! Why have you not been to your lessons?”  
“I was in the library” he mumbled, knowing that his father disliked his interest in books; in fact, he didn’t understand why he was interested in them at all.  
“Those bloody books again! If I see you anywhere near that library again this week, I will personally burn the whole place down!”  
“Yes father” he groaned in response.  
“I want you leave the table and go apologise to Mrs Grinnel and stay with her all day.”  
“Yes father.” 

As he wandered down the corridor he heard them laughing and joking behind him, probably imitating him over-exaggeratedly. It was fine though, he knew that Koujaku would stick up for him, he always had his back, they had always been very close.  
He set his thoughts back to the numbers. What could they mean? he tried to think of any relevance they could have to each other but all he could think of was that they were all 11 numbers apart, and if 11 was why they were there then surely the paper would simply have the number 11 not three completely different numbers. Anyway, he silently said, that would be too easy. 

He stumbled into the small room which was supposedly a classroom but was more like a cage to him, a prison cell where he was forced to do sums and read boring educational books. Out of all the rooms in the castle, Mrs Grinnel had to pick this one, the only place without even a simple window. he walked up to the small (and only) table, barely big enough for the both of them, placed his satchel next to the small wooden chair and stood to attention behind it. Mrs Grinnel, who had been facing the large blackboard at the front of the room, finished writing whatever they were supposed to be doing today and spun on his heels to look at Aoba. “How nice of you to join me today Aoba. I assume that whatever it was you were doing yesterday was much more important than learning about the war of Emosewa or algebra!” she then went into a sort of daydream, probably about algebra or Emosewa or something boring like that. Aoba apologised for yesterday and sat down. Mrs Grinnel shook herself out of the trance and walked over to the small shelf on the wall on the left. Aoba had always thought of it as pathetic as it only held 11 books; 2 on maths, 3 on languages (mainly old languages, like runes), 3 on historical events, 2 on geography and the last on science. Mrs Grinnel picked up one on historical events and sat down. he placed it open in front of Aoba on page 256 and took out his own copy from one of the drawers on his side of the table. he started reading and Aoba tried his best to concentrate but his mind kept slipping and thinking about the paper. Why was it in that book in that library in this castle? Then he started thinking about the library and how it was arranged. There were roughly 75 bookcases around the edge of the room, about 80 shelves on each case, and around 40 books on each shelf. That’s it! he almost shouted but stopped himself and whispered instead. ‘24, 13, 2’. But the only problem was Mrs Grinnel, and his father of course. he returned to the book that Mrs Grinnel had been reading and did his best to follow on the page but he was simply too excited to find out what the numbers would lead him to.

At 6 o clock in the evening, Aoba’s lessons finished and he went straight to his chambers, eager for midnight to come. Before he arrived, he bumped into his brother, and best friend, Koujaku. He had changed out of his training gear and now wore his usual clothes; tight black trousers and a rather royal jumper their father had given him last birthday which had red and orange aspects of it. His hair was scruffed but flicked slightly to the right as it always did, and was the exact same colour as Aoba’s, if not a little lighter.  
He excitedly talked at Aoba about how he was “getting so very much more skillful with his sword” and how he “has a real chance with King Rupert next year”. Aoba smiled and nodded along, wondering how well he really would do at the presentation. he faked a yawn as politely as he could and explained that after doing so many boring sums and ‘educational’ reading all day he was very tired and asked him if it was alright if they could continue this conversation tomorrow. He gave him a brotherly smile and said of course and walked in the other direction towards the kitchens, naturally going to sneak a snack before he himself goes to bed.

It was midnight; Aoba rolled out of bed as quietly as he could, grabbed his satchel and tiptoed towards the door. he opened it slowly and slipped out the thin gap. The stone floor was cold beneath his bare feet; he feared shoes would have been too noisy. he jogged towards the big wooden double doors but then thought better of it. They creaked heavily every time he opened them and something like that this late at night would surely wake his father. he turned around and headed towards the small back door of the castle, tiptoeing silently past his parents’ and siblings’ chambers. As he pulled at the disused door, he heard footsteps behind his. he jumped behind the curtains in the window to his right and glanced through the small slit to see who had almost caught his. It was Mizuki. Aoba was glad he hid; Mizuki adored their father and would do anything to please him. he waited until he was sure he was gone and out of earshot and opened the window behind him. The echoes of the door opening may have been what woke him up and he couldn’t risk that happening again. he pulled himself out the window, jumping onto the dew-dropped grass. he pushed the window to, leaving it open slightly so that he could get back in when he needed to. Right, he thought, the library is on the west side of the castle and I am now on the east, great. he sprinted as fast as he could round the edge of the castle, ducking any windows he came across, just in case. 

Suddenly, he came across a small square door, about 15 inches in both width and height. As far as he knew, he was the only one who knew about this little opening into the library as nobody else seemed to use it, or had the need to anyway. he brushed off the vines and plants that had tangled themselves in front of it and turned the knob. It opened with a crack but they were so far from the windows of any bedrooms now that he doubted anyone heard. he squeezed through on his stomach and slid onto the floor. he was in! Now to try out his theory. he traipsed to the main doors and turned to face the room. Someone had forgotten to close the curtains but it was even more beautiful in the dim moonlight. he grabbed the ladder which stood in front of the first bookcase on his left and slid it along the pole at the top for 23 more cases till he arrived at the 24th. he then climbed to the top and slowly stepped down, counting as he went till he counted to the 13th shelf. he then reached for the 2nd book along and climbed down. he then did the same from the bottom of the bookcase as he didn’t know whether it would start from the top or bottom. When he had collected the two books he carried them to the table and set them both down. Seeing as he found the envelope in a book of legends he hardly thought the book titled ‘Architecture of the north’ was going to be the intended book. The other book however: ‘The Darkness Society’ sounded more like what he was looking for. It was a relatively small book with a bright red cover and deep-black lettering. he sat in his usual seat facing the door and started reading. As he reached the end he realised that 3 and a half hours had past and the maids would soon be up and about to put the house in order before his family woke up. he slotted the book into his satchel and walked back around the edge of the castle. 

When he arrived back at his chambers he quickly changed into pyjamas and slid into bed. he turned on the bedside lamp and took the book from his satchel. he quickly skimmed through the book, reached to his bedside table and took out a small notebook and pencil from the drawer and started noting down the main points of what he had just read.  
From what he could make out, there was a thing called the ‘Darkness Society’ which is basically an army of creatures who are set on wreaking havoc on Haedonfowse due to a curse that was set upon them by the great sorcerer, Ssenkrad, which caused them to turn into gargoyle-like creatures. But, as they had succeeded in destroying the old villages of long ago, the Blue Witch and the Wizard of the sky joined forces to defeat Ssenkrad and trap the Darkness Society in a cage in the centre of the sun. The witch and wizard were then rewarded greatly and became the king and queen of Haedonfowse. It says that before they destroyed Ssenkrad, he hastily cast his last curse, which said that on the 700th anniversary on the day of his defeat, the D.S would rise up once more, break from their cage and return to Haedonfowse to avenge his defeat. 

At the back of the book, there was a folded piece of paper and on it was, in the same handwriting that was used on the slip in the envelope, the way in which one could prevent the D.S from ever returning. It said: In order for peace, the children of the sun must light the farthest corners of Haedonfowse before the sunset on the 700th anniversary of Ssenkrad’s death, also known as the ‘celebration of the sun’ in the Capital. If the deed is done, the D.S won’t ever be able to escape the sun’s cage again.

Aoba couldn’t believe it. It sounded like there was a possibility of it being true, but then again, it could simply be a myth and nothing more. However, Aoba had always been a curious boy and he wanted to know the full truth about it so he decided that he would have to collect some research. But how? he knew that his father would have his eyes on him all day every day. The only times in which he could do any research was during lessons and at night. he knew for a fact that the 700th sun celebration was in a week or two because his father had been planning on performing a speech in the Capital, and if the legend was true then they would all be doomed if he didn't do something soon.  
He woke later that morning to the sound of the breakfast bell once more. he climbed out of bed, threw on some clothes and made his way towards the dining hall, dreading the day full of math he had ahead of his. On the way to the hall, he passed Koujaku again. They started talking about his sword practice whilst walking (as Aoba had promised) and he started thinking, what if he asked Koujaku to help his investigate? It couldn’t hurt to ask at least. So he pulled Koujaku down one of the many disused corridors and explained to him everything that had happened yesterday. He thought about it and agreed that however daft it may seem, if it was important to Aoba then it was important to him. He said that he would help him look into it whenever he could. Aoba thanked him and they continued their way to the dining hall. 

After his lessons had finished, Aoba went straight to the library, being careful not to pass his father on the way. When he arrived there he found Koujaku already in there reading a book. He glanced at him as he walked in then went back to reading. They exchanged pleasantries and Koujaku handed Aoba a deep green hard-back notebook that he had been taking notes in. he read through it and once again thanked him for helping him out with this. From what Koujaku had acquired, it seemed that Ssenkrad and everything else in the little red book was real. he pulled out the little red book from his satchel and took out the paper that was still wedged at the back. he asked him if he had seen anything that related to it but he denied reading any such thing. So he decided that that was what he would research.

They stayed in the library until 3 in the morning, relaying any findings back to eachother in 2 hour intervals. It seemed that it was all true. The D.S, the curse and the cure to this madness. Aoba said that when looking at a map of Haedonfowse, the four aforementioned corners that they must light seem to be the abandoned lighthouses at the edges of Haedonfowse. They also found that the ‘children of the sun’ who must light the lighthouses relates to the royal family. he read that when the witch and the wizard trapped the D.S in the sun, they gained powers like no other; therefore they became children of the sun. This title was then passed down generation after generation until finally, Aoba realised, it came to pass among him and his siblings.

They agreed that in the morning they would present their findings to their father and hope that he understands the truth, that all the evidence suggests that there really is a D.S and that they must leave as soon as possible in order to save their land.

The next morning Aoba and Koujaku awoke and met outside the library. They gathered all their evidence together and raced towards the great hall where they found their parents and siblings feasting. They advanced towards their father and stood in front of him. Aoba placed the pile of evidence in front of his father and slunk behind Koujaku as he knew that he would not listen to what he had to say. So Koujaku told him all about how he had gone into the library after practises and how he had come across it. Koujaku turned to look at Aoba and he could read it in his eyes that he was thanking him for not telling his father what had really happened. Their father dismissed them, promising that he would look through what they had discovered. They walked to the library to wait for their father, as they both had a day off from their daily routines.

After a few hours had gone past, they started to worry that their father didn’t believe them, or worse, that he had forgotten about his promise all together. They had been asking each other riddles to pass the time. “Okay,” Aoba said, desperately trying to think of a hard riddle to trip him up, “right, I am hard as a stone but light as a feather, I can slip through your fingers yet-” And at that moment he burst in the room, panting as if he had run all the way from the dining hall. He was followed by a surprised Noiz and Mizuki. They all looked at their Father as if he had gone insane. So he explained to his children about his Great Grandfather telling him about his ancestors. About how they had entered the magical professions and what they had supposedly done. He assumed it was all fairy tales when he was a kid and didn’t think anymore of it but now that he had proof he encouraged the children to think of the legend as true and act as they think necessary. He then left, still panting, and swung the door behind him. Just as there was a small crack left, he poked his head inside and whispered “I know you will do the right thing”.

As they sat around the table, Mizuki and Noiz showed their boredom by sighing every few seconds and fidgeting way too much. Koujaku had to practically shout at them to get them to listen. Once he had explained to them the curse and pointed out that even their father, the man in charge of the whole kingdom wanted them to do this, they listened much more intently and concentrated on what they had to say. Once he had finished outlining the details of the curse and what they had to do, Mizuki started to babble some nonsense about how he needed their fathers’ respect more than any of you ‘pure kids’. He ran out of the library and sprinted towards his chambers. There he grabbed a small rucksack from under his bed and started filling it with food and water. He ran to the great hall where he knew the king would be and told him that he was going to save the world. He turned and stumbled out of the large, heavy doors. He heard his father call after him, but he didn’t stay to listen, he was too busy out saving the world and making his father proud.

That was the last they saw of him for a while.

Back in the library, the others sat in silence, gobsmacked, watching the door, expecting Mizuki to come gallivanting back in at any moment. But he didn’t. Aoba stood up, scraping his chair behind his. The others turned at the sound and watched him as he headed straight towards one of the bookcases. he ran his fingers along a shelf until he found what he was looking for. he slid it out of its place and dropped it on the table in front of his chair. As he slowly lowered herself to the seat, he opened the book to the front page which depicted the map of Haedonfowse. he showed it to Koujaku, who immediately took over.

“Okay then." Koujaku placed the book open neatly on the table and walked towards the southern-most window and stared at something in the distance. On the horizon he could just about make out the silhouette of Mizuki, heading towards the S/W corner. He suddenly swivelled on his heels to face them. I shall go to the north west lighthouse.” He strided towards where the book was laid and pointed to the corresponding corner. “And face the Mountains of Cladashh.”  
“And I’ll go to the north-east corner.” Aoba interrupted. “That way I can walk with you most of the way” he smiled innocently at him. Koujaku looked at him in a way that only an older brother would.

“Guess I could to the south-west lighthouse then” Noiz mumbled sulkily. Both Koujaku and Aoba looked at him, registering his expression.  
“I’m sorry, is there a problem?” Koujaku said in a sarcastic voice. “Anyway, you might not want to go that way, that's Mizuki went. Unless you were hoping to bump into him. No, you are better off going to the south east lighthouse."  
Aoba stood up and walked towards where he found the last book from. he bent down slowly and opened the long draw at the bottom. Inside he searched through the papers and books and files and who knows what else and pulled out some papers, holding them in the air in triumph. he took them back to the table and placed one piece of paper in front of each of them. Koujaku looked down quizzically at his and found that it was the map of Haedonfowse. “Here.” he said when he returned to his seat. “Now we won’t get completely lost!” 

“Genius!” Koujaku blurted. Aoba smiled and turned back to his paper. 

“As you can see” he continued, “all the main areas of Haedonfowse are clearly labelled and as long as we go around the dangerous ones as much as possible then we should be fine. Noiz-,” he started walking towards the other side of the room, pulling the ladder with him as he continued, “the firefly plains will be deadly during the night.” he climbed the ladder towards the top and wiggled a large heavy-looking book out of its place. he carried it as if it had no weight and placed it loudly on the table. he opened it to the middle and flicked through the pages backwards. he stopped abruptly on a page which held the picture of what appeared to be a fire-breathing dragon. “These are fireflies.” he said in a strangely sinister voice. “As it says here,” pointing to the paragraph next to the drawing. “They are around 6 inches long on average and can breathe flames of fire twice as far as themselves. They are nocturnal so they only come out at night so make sure you’re not around for that!” he laughed slightly, then thought better of it and coughed it away.  
“well, that sounds like fun, more fun then I’m gonna have trying to get through these mountains” Koujaku joked, but Aoba could hear the worry he hid in his voice. 

“Ah, yes” he ambled around the table towards where he was now sitting, “if you see here,” he said sliding the book towards him. he elegantly ripped out the page with the firefly paragraph on and turned to the back of the book. he stroked the page with his fingers and tapped twice on the required number. he flicked back through the book and showed him the new page. This one had details of the mountains and it said that “there is a path, starting from the most eastern point of the range, and it takes you all the way through to the other side,” Aoba read.

“Wow,” Koujaku remarked, “this book has literally everything we need!”  
“Yes, it’s called ‘Haedonfowse: a geographical journey through its’ land’! It’s written by Randalf Hobstupp who-“  
“yes, yes, that’s all very well,” Noiz rudely interrupted, “I expect Mr. hogs butt did a great deal with his life but frankly, I don’t care about him, all I care about is getting through this childish ‘quest’ or whatever you want to call it, after which I’m gonna stay away from you gullible lunatics and become completely successfull in my studies” he grabbed the map and sheet about fireflies and stormed out of the door, slamming it behind him. 

Koujaku looked at Aoba who was just stood there gobsmacked like he’d just been slapped in the face.

“Well that wasn’t very gentlemanly” Koujaku remarked. Aoba broke from his gaze and laughed. 

They put on some suitable clothing; Aoba wore a pair of denim shorts and a vest which he thought was best for the hot climate in the north and packed a jacket just in case, and Koujaku wore some relatively thick trousers as he thought it would most likely be cold in the mountains due to the altitude, and packed some cargo shorts. He also wore his usual jumper with a thinner jacket packed in his bag just in case. They then packed a weeks’ worth of food and drink each and headed towards the great hall to bid their father farewell.


	2. Part 2. ~Noiz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz point of view, the start of his journey.

After he stormed out of the library, Noiz jogged down the corridor to Aoba’s chambers to grab a rucksack. he personally didn’t own such an unseemly item and therefore needed to ‘borrow’ one from his kid brother. he picked up one that was brown and felt like cow hide and filled it with some water and food from the kitchens. he walked to his room which was not far away and quickly slipped on his only pair of practical bottoms (black leather trousers lined with fur on the inside) and a warm jacket and made his way towards the great hall. he curtseyed to his father and said that he’d be back soon enough to make his study trip, to which he replied, “no worries, child. You take all the time you need.” Noiz winced when he called him child but then dismissed it and started towards the door. As he made his way down the path, he looked to the south-east and couldn’t see anything for miles. he realised that it was going to be much further than he had hoped and so spun to his left and ran to the stables. he walked in the open-ended barn and half jogged past the horses’ heads that stuck out from their stalls. he found the most handsome horse he could (it was completely snow- white) and fumbled with the reins. In the end he gave up with the saddle and climbed upon its smooth, bare back. They galloped away from the castle as fast as they could towards the Jungle and natural growth.


	3. ~ Aoba and Koujaku

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following Aoba and Koujaku as they start their journey.

After they said their goodbyes, their father walked them to the castles’ main doors and waved them off. They walked north, not far from the edge of the Capital. As they walked, they talked and told stories, trying their best to not think of what would happen if either of them, or their siblings failed in their endeavour. They started talking about what’s going to happen once they’d lighted their lighthouses. “I’ll probably walk straight through the capital to get home” Koujaku stated, pointing to the relevant direction on his map.

“yeah, I suppose I’ll have to walk all this way on my own” Aoba replied glumly.

“I know!” Koujaku exclaimed, “Mother’s always telling us of ‘Mad Auntie Maivis’ up in this little old village here! Why don’t we meet there after we’ve finished?”  
“That’s a great idea! But, are you sure you wanna walk all the way round there?” he pointed to a large indent in the edge of the land by the mountains “just to meet me?”  
“Of course! Look, I promise, on the safety of Haedonfowse, that I will meet you at Maivis’ house by the day of the sun celebration in the capital. Mum said she owns a stall in the market in the village square selling gems or crystals or something, so that’s where she’ll most probably be”  
“but surely she won’t recognise us?”  
“Mum said she used to live with us in the castle when we were babies but then she moved to the village to sell jewels or whatever. But, I’m sure they have pictures of us in the villages I mean, come on! We’re the royals! They owe their peaceful, war-less lives to us!”  
“I suppose” Aoba mumbled, knowing that arguing would be useless in helping the situation. They walked for the next hour or two in silence and before long they had drank all their water.

After another hour of wandering they reached a small slow-running stream crossing their path. Aoba pulled a small bottle from his backpack and crouched to fill it with the water. he stood and held it up to the sun to examine it and found it to be surprisingly clear. he told Koujaku, who was gazing at the horizon below the lowering sun in the distance. He took the bottle from him and stared at the water suspiciously, as if he half expected a shark to suddenly charge at him from inside the container. After a little while, he seemed content that such a thing would not happen and encouraged Aoba to fill the rest of his bottles, and contorted that they should be more careful with the amount of water they consume, as he filled his bottles as well.

After they completed their task, they decided that the stream was small enough to jump over, or at least most of the way, and it was so shallow that it wouldn’t matter if they didn’t complete the jump. Koujaku went first, leaping over the brook with such ease and elegance that Aoba knew he would fail completely in comparison. he threw himself over the stream and landed just inside the water, splashing water all up his bare legs. Annoyed that he didn’t clear the jump like his older brother, he sulked for the next half hour of their walk; refusing to talk to his brother in any other form than the shortest answer he could possibly manage.

Soon enough they reached the point at which they would end their journey together and go their separate ways. However, Aoba pointed out that it was very nearly dark and that they should stop for the night. Agreeing to Aoba’s suggestion, Koujaku reached into his pack and pulled out an already crinkled map and said that they could either walk 3-4 miles back south and divert into the capitol and hope to find accommodation or they could walk 1-2 miles east to the sky port and ask to sleep in the tall building wherein all the pilots’ sleep. They were of the same mind and headed towards the sky port where their close, guaranteed accommodation awaited them.


	4. ~Noiz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As he grows tired, Noiz needs a place to stay for the night. Luckily, a nearby farmhouse lends him a bed for the night.

As Noiz was riding a horse, he covered the same miles as Aoba and Koujaku but in half the time. He had refilled his bottles, twice, and was now making his way through the land of the cold farms. he passed sties of pigs which stank as pigs do, cows, sheep and horses among other foul-smelling beasts. He saw people, even ladies, covered from the tips of their toes to the brim of their hats in mud. At least he hoped it was mud. Noiz truly didn’t understand why women would put themselves through such hell, rather than just staying indoors, warm, clean and smelling like roses rather than a donkeys’ back-end. As he came closer and closer to the coldest area in all of Haedonfowse, he could certainly feel the temperature dropping and knew it would have a bad effect on his horse. “Come on, umm, ah. I don’t actually know your name. What’s your name horsey? Oh great. It hasn’t even been a day and I’m already talking to a horse. Well, as I don’t know your name I’m gonna call you… um… Sneachta. Yeah! That sounds good doesn’t it! Well then, come on Sneachta! Let’s go to that farmhouse over there and ask if we can sleep there for the night.” So Noiz and Sneachta crept along a narrow path between animal pens to reach the nearest farmhouse.

When they arrived, Noiz slid off the side of Sneachta and tapped on the door to the shack. It was small enough width ways but it seemed to be at least 3 storeys high. he heard many voices coming from inside and wondered how many people could live in, despite the height, such a small place. The door was delicately opened wide. It was so dim inside; Noiz had to blink for a few moments in order to just make out the silhouette of an elderly man stood in the doorway. “‘ello there lad, finished for the day are ye?” his eyes flickered to the horse stood beside his and he looked suddenly apprehensive, “urmm”, he cleared his throat, “who are ye? Ye lookin’ fer a job? Yer welcome to join o’ course.” 

“What? Oh no” he laughed under his breath, “I am Noiz, the Prince! And I am looking for a place to stay the night”. The man processed what he had said, his eyes widening in shock and his mouth transformed into a gaping hole, “Och! O’ course, o’ course! Come in, please.” He stepped to the side and gestured his in, “Marcie!” he called behind him. A young girl no older than 9 years old ran toward them. The man told his to take the horse to the stables and he gladly obliged. Noiz strutted into the small wooden house and looked around in disgust. It was a simple house, one room downstairs with a long table stretching throughout with perhaps 5 chairs down each side and one on each end, at the side there was a stone stove upon which a few saucepans lay and a small table next to it upon which a large bowl held water. On the opposite wall stood an old staircase leading to the first floor.

Sat on one of the seats was an elderly woman, about the same age as the man, reading. she looked up when Noiz entered and watched his suspiciously. She seemed horrified to see his expression of disgust at her home and in that instant; Noiz’s impression had been made.  
“Hello?” she said to Noiz, a hard edge to her voice.

“hello” Noiz replied, turning towards her. Registering the hardness in her voice and her gaze, “I am here for a place to stay” he added, equalling his hardness.  
“He’s the prince Noiz, Em’ly” said the old man.

Patronisingly Emily said to Noiz, “Well in that case you better go upstairs then. Theo’ll show you a spare bed you can have the night” at that he heard a knock, sounding as if a hard, thick book had been put down, and a boy about the same age as Noiz strolled around from behind the stairs and walked up to Noiz. Theo held out his hand, meaning for him to shake it but Noiz sniffed at it as if it were a dead rat. Emily stiffened but Jamie just shrugged and walked up the stairs, meaning for him to follow. When he got to the top he realised Noiz hadn’t and called “well, come on then!” his voice deep with a bored disposition. He scuttled after him, the couple watched as his feet disappeared. Emily turned on the man and said “we’ll talk about this later, Harold.” After which she stormed outside, closing the door behind her.

Noiz was led to the top floor, which turned out to be four storeys up, and was allocated a bed by Jamie. He told him that if he needed anything that he should just ask him and he showed him his bed a few over from his. 

Noiz went to bed not long after and fell asleep almost immediately. He woke in the night desperately thirsty and so decided to go downstairs for some water. He didn’t think Jamie would have appreciated being woken so he stood and looked around for the stairs. He suddenly realised that all but a few of the other beds had been filled whilst he slept, he crept through the other floors and was rather astonished at the sheer amount of people all living under one roof. They were of all ages, ranging from babies in cribs to elders even older than Emily and Harold. He was suddenly taken aback when he realised that, in his castle, his home, there must be at least 100 maids and servants also living in there with him and he felt rather overwhelmed. He carried on down the stairs and stopped at the top of the final flight. He heard a hushed argument between the two superiors and decided to listen instead of interrupting and so he crouched on the top step and heard the rest of the conversation.

“I couldn’t care less if he was a faerie who lived in the stove, Harold. He has no right to storm in here demanding a bed-“  
“He didn’t demand a bed, he as’ed”  
“Yeah? Well what do you think he would have done if we said no? He would have told his father and got us thrown out of our own home. He didn’t even say thank you!”  
“Thank you? You were as ‘arsh as ‘ails towards ‘er!”  
“But you weren’t were you! And neither was Theo! And did you see the way he screwed his nose up at the place! Just because he’s a prince and is of royal blood doesn’t mean that he can act like such a brat towards us! I know that we are mere commoners to him but if he is the next generation to be in charge then I seriously worry for what will happen to the kingdom”  
“Come on Em’ly, it won’t be tha’ bad. He’s still the son of King Jon which is good nuff ‘vincing fer me. An’ before him there’s still that Mizuki boy. Maybe he’s not as arrogant as he is”  
“No, Harold, Mizuki won’t be king will he, no matter how nice he is. He is not technically a-”

*Creak* Noiz had moved ever so slightly but he it must have been on a bad floorboard and now both the elders’ attention was fixed on the unseeable, staring at the stairs, and though Noiz was hidden, he felt their eyes on him nonetheless. He heard them begin to walk around the table towards the stairs and he stumbled backwards and ran as quietly as he could back up the stairs, completely forgetting his thirst. He jumped back into his bed and threw the covers over his body and acted as though he hadn’t moved. Despite the fact that he was a prince and he knew that he had technically not done anything wrong, Emily’s words had gotten to him and as he laid in complete silence (other than one or two people snoring) he thought over the conversation, again and again.

Suddenly, interrupting his thoughts, he heard them creep up the final staircase. He stiffened but they didn’t go to him or wake him, they just stayed at the top of the stairs. Harold whispered to Emily “just promise me you’ll try an’ be nice to 'im, just till he leaves a’ least.”

“Yes, Harry, of course I will” she agreed, and with that they both retreated down the stairs, leaving Noiz once again to wallow in his thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. Thankyou for reading this far, I hope you liked it. It's just kinda been sat on my computer for a while so i thought i'd upload it. Thanks x


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